Set up behaviors in Zapier Agents

Beta

This product is in open beta. It’s available for use but still in active development and may change.

Your agents can work independently using behaviors. These are automated sets of tasks and consist of:

• Instructions: what you want the agent to do.
• Trigger: an event that starts the behavior.
• (Optional) Actions: apps the agent will use to perform tasks.
• (Optional) Data integrations: documents the agent uses to answer questions and complete tasks. An agent can have multiple behaviors, each with its own instructions, trigger, and actions.  

1. Create a new behavior

1. Visit https://agents.zapier.com/. Learn how to create your agent.
2. From your agent Chat field, click Run behavior to open the Run behavior dropdown menu.
3. Click + Create behavior. A window will open and you can configure all aspects of your behavior.

2. Add a trigger

Start your agent’s automation with behavior triggers, which are events that start the process. If you’re familiar with Zapier, these trigger works similarly to Zap triggers. However, unlike Zaps, you can also trigger behaviors on demand by chatting with your agent. 

To set your trigger:

1. In the Trigger field, click Add trigger.
2. Search for and select an app, or pick from the suggested ones.
3. Select the trigger you want to use. The default trigger is On demand, which means you must chat with your agent to trigger the behavior.
4. If required, select an account to connect to in the Account dropdown menu. Certain apps do not require a connection.
   • You can create a new connection by clicking the Settings icon . 
5. Fill out any required fields for your trigger.
6. Click Save.

3. Add instructions

Instructions tell the agent what to do. Specify the triggering event, the desired actions, and how you expect the agent to behave. 

Example

Using the New Starred Email in Gmail trigger, you can instruct your agent with the following:  “Review the content of every email I add a star to in Gmail, and determine if it contains a task for me. If so, create a task assigned to me in Asana with the relevant details and due date. Send me a Slack message once the task is ready, with a summary and the due date.”  When you add a star to an email in Gmail, the agent analyzes the content to identify potential tasks for you. If there are any, it creates your tasks in Asana and alerts you through Slack. 

4. Insert actions

If you want your agent to interact with other apps or websites, you must add actions. By adding them to the behavior instructions, you can give the agent access to those actions.

To add a new action:

1. Within the behavior window, click Insert tools.
2. Click + Add tool.
3. In the dialog box, search for and select the app you want to use.
4. Select an action from the list.
   • Click the Find data tab to restrict the list to actions that can search for data.
   • Click the Take action tab to restrict the list to actions that can change data.
5. If you used your app account with Zapier Agents before, the search action is ready to use and you'll be taken back to the instructions screen.
6. If not, select a connection from the dropdown menu, or create a new connection by clicking the Settings icon.
   • To change the action's fields, click the Settings icon beside its name in the message field.
7. Fill out any other fields that may be required for the action.
   • To see optional fields, click Show all options. For these fields, you can let the agent decide the content of certain fields.
8. Click Save. The search action will appear in the Chat field, and you can reference it when chatting with the agent.

5. Insert a data integration

Data integrations are documents from other apps that contain information your agent can use to complete tasks or answer questions. Any data integration previously added to your agent becomes available within behaviors. To insert a new data integration: 

1. Within the behavior window, click Insert tools.
2. Click + Add tool.
3. In the dialog box, upload a file or select an app from the available options.
4. Select a connection for the app from the first dropdown menu.
   • You can create a new connection by clicking the Settings icon .
5. In the next dropdown menu, select a document to use as the data integration.
   • Some apps may require you to fill out further fields.
6. Click Add data integration.

Once you insert an action or data integration, it will appear as a text pill in the instructions field. You can move them to where you want to reference them, to provide better context to the agent. You can also:

• Click the pill to change its settings.
• Delete it using `Del` or `Backspace` on your keyboard.
• Click and drag to move it to another part of the field. 

Searching and browsing the internet

Agents can search the internet and browse websites for information to complete requests and tasks. Whenever you provide instructions that require accessing an external website, the agent will carry out the instructions and return the results.

6. Test your behavior

After setting up your behavior, you should test it to ensure the agent is working as expected. To do so, in the Behavior dialog box, click Test Behavior or Save instructions & test, if you haven't saved your latest changes.

When you’re testing a behavior, your agent will show you a preview before carrying out actions in your connected apps so you can ensure it's sending the correct information.

Correct a behavior

During testing, if you'd like the agent to do something differently, use the message field to tell the agent what to change. If your agent recognizes that it should update its instructions, it will show that the feedback has been saved, and the instructions for the behavior will be updated. Learn how to improve the results of a behavior.

Activity limits for behaviors

Behavior run limits depend on the plan you use. 

• Free plan: 10 activities.
• Paid plans: 40 activities.

If the agent reaches the limit for your plan and there are more actions to complete, you must confirm them before continuing. 

Not all actions taken by the agent count as activities. Learn more about what counts as an activity.

Provide feedback and get help

Submit a feature request, provide feedback on existing features, or get help from the Zapier Agents team. You can also discuss Agents with other users on Zapier's Early Access Program Slack.